Best Christmas Ever!

Earlier in the week I was nostalgia'ing over Christmases of the past. Back when things were simpler--back when I could still listen to a Christmas song.

One very memorable Christmas for me was 1989. I got a GI Joe Defiant Space Shuttle Complex. I spent the whole day putting it together and putting on stickers (mostly in the wrong places cause my idea of where they should go was vastly superior to their intended places of adhesion). Probably not surprising to anyone here, but I still have it today (although it's certainly seen better days...)

Of course, I technically already knew I was getting it because when my grandparents and I went to get our packed up tree from the shed, the MASSIVE box was sitting in plain view. Imagine my shock to see exactly what I wanted for Christmas, and then hearing my grandparents curse as they realized how much they'd fucked up by not hiding it. It was still an awesome Christmas.

What was a Christmas that really stood out for you--either because of what you got, or because of something that happened?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I had a lovely memory of Phantasy Star III and chocolate M&Ms for breakfast on that cold brisk morning. Whenever I have some M&Ms I'd instantly remember that day. That or upon hearing the PSIII music. I didn't get this as a present or whatever, it was a rental. My xmas gifts were always meh, and my brother was the one who got the better stuff (video games! damn it). The large bag of M&Ms was a stocking stuffer though.

But yeah, I could had sworn that chocolate M&Ms today don't taste as they used to from two decades ago. :\

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I despise Christmas now but, when I was a kid, we had one Christmas when my old man actually joined us in Mexico and brought us all gifts from here in the States. I don't even remember what he brought and I didn't really care. I was just happy because that's the very first Christmas that I remember our whole family spent together; I was already 10 by then!

The following year he moved us all here to the States and we made it a point to spend every Christmas together as a family. That was until my mom died in 2008. Now everyone spends Christmas on their own.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Christmases when my Grandma was still alive. They were always festive. Only time of the year with no drama. My family gets together regularly, but they did so more back then. Everything just seemed simpler.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I think my most memorable Christmas was when I was a bit older and my parents got me a PS2. I was so excited to get it, but college applications were due within the week and I hadn't even started them, so I wouldn't let myself touch it until they were done. I didn't play until New Year's.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I was six when I got Super Mario Bros. 3 for Christmas in 1990. Seeing that iconic yellow box and the Nintendo Player's Guide, with the amazing artwork on the cover and inside, reading the summaries of all the enemies and analyzing the maps for bonus rooms and shortcuts, was a very influential moment in my childhood. The only thing that might eclipse that is playing round after round of NHL Hockey and NHL '94 with my uncle and cousin on Christmas 1994.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The most memorable Christmas morning (and probably the best one when you get right down to it) was the year I got my PS1. My parents bought it for me along with Final Fantasy VII, PaRappa the Rapper, Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi, and Riven. What made it fun that year was that they put all the games into Limited Too and Claires boxes just to throw me off. I remember asking for a PS1 but after not seeing any game-shaped boxes under the tree, I got really suspicious. It worked out pretty well though, and it was definitely the Christmas morning I remember the most.

Afterwards, when going to hook up my PS1 to my old as balls tube TV, my parents and I realized that they forgot to buy my RF adapter, which would have meant a whole day or more without playing my new PS1. So, we took a ride around town to see if anything was open, and for whatever reason, Blockbuster Video was. We went in and asked the guy if we could borrow one of their rental units' RF adapters, and he ended up just giving it to us for free! It was awesome.

I unabashedly love Christmas. Love giving gifts, love getting gifts, and more than anything I love spending tons of time with my massive family. It's a wonderful time of year

FELIPE NO

The best Christmas I can remember is the Christmas I figured out Santa wasn't real. Not sure how old I was. Maybe 6 or 7.

My father was with a woman who really, really liked spending at the time. On Christmas Eve, my sister and I were put to bed early. Of course, like any kid waiting for Santa, I stayed up. And so did everyone wrapping presents (most of her family). They thought I was sleeping, so they weren't exactly very subtle about wrapping the presents.

So I overheard them, and figured it out.

But the presents were just so fantastic that year, I was overwhelmed. The living room was literally FILLED with gifts. You could hardly walk in the room.

It sounds selfish now to say that my most favorite Christmas ever was due to the massive amounts of gifts that were mostly for my sister and I, despite having learned that Santa wasn't real.

Of course, like the asshole I was as a kid, I went straight back to school after vacation and informed every single child I could that Santa wasn't real.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Best Christmas ever? Had to be back in '07 when I was taken off the boat four weeks ahead of time and ended up making it home in time for Christmas, my birthday, and New Years. I didn't tell my folks that I was headed home early and ended up strolling in the door on Christmas Eve to surprise 'em. Ohohoho

Of course, the next year I was stuck offshore of Brazil for all three

As far as best Christmas in the are of loot? Probably when I was in sixth grade. Got so much awesome swag that year. Highlights: PHANTASY STAR IV & SHINING FORCE 2 HELL YES.

Most amazing jew boots

The year a dog peed on a bunch of my presents and my mom demanded I pose with them for Christmas pictures anyway.




There's nowhere I can't reach.

The best part is your brother laughing in the background, Puck.

I don’t recall any bad Christmases, but the one that stands out for me was the year Tritoch and I got an NES. At this point, the SNES had just come out, and I had been begging my parents for a video game system for years. Every year at school, we’d go around in a circle at school naming off what we wanted/what we got for Christmas, and every year I’d listen to all the boys say “Nintendo!” or “Sega Genesis!” and get a little more disappointed. When I’d ask my mom for an NES, the answer was always, “You’ve got an Apple IIc, you don’t need another video game system.” At this point I’d given up and stopped asking, so when I saw a big box under the tree with both Tritoch’s and my name on it (we’re 8 years apart, so it was hard to get a gift for both of us as kids), I was befuddled. That Christmas morning was the most surprised I’ve probably been at Christmas, and I spent hours in the days that followed playing Mario Bros., Mario 2 and Tetris.

My dad told me years later that Mom wanted to get us a really expensive, surprising present because it was the year she was diagnosed with cancer, and she wasn’t sure how many more Christmases we’d have together. I’ve still got that NES set up in my apartment today.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

When I was 13, my stepdad (who I was struggling to bond with at the time) gave me a pony. We spent a ton of time taking care of the pony (which turned out to be a brat that eventually broke my trainer's leg and was subsequently sold) and that really helped us bond. A year later I got a job that got me ring time with the horse I grew up riding, but the pony was my first.

Even though that particular equine turned out to be a disappointment, one of the best moments of my life was my stepdad taking me outside with a blindfold and untying it to reveal this adorable black Fell pony standing in the snow. I'd never felt so important or optimistic about life.

And that was my best Christmas ever.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?